Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunning just went below the four minute mark for the first time, powered by a newfound tactic than involves stuffing Shadowheart's corpse into a box.
According to Speedrun.com, ImTaiyl hit a new world record of 3:57.96 in the Baldur's Gate 3 Any% Speedrun category just hours after Mae (the Canadian speedrunner who hit the headlines for taking on Baldur’s Gate 3’s Sex% category) set a record of 4:15.
Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunners are setting astonishing completion times using a new tactic dubbed 'Shadowboxing', in addition to the Gale level one spell combo of Enhance Leap and Feather Fall, which is used by speedrunners to leapfrog swathes of the early game.
Baldur’s Gate 3 spoilers are ahead.
Shadowboxing is not some new Dungeons & Dragons melee mechanic. Rather, it involves killing popular Cleric companion Shadowheart at the point you meet her if you do not rescue her aboard the Nautiloid, and stuffing her body into a box, such as a wooden trunk found in camp. Yep, it’s a bit grim, but a bit funny, too, and very Dungeons & Dragons.
From there, it’s a case of setting the ground on fire, chucking the box on the fire, which in turn sets the box alight, then stuffing Shadowheart’s still-warm corpse into the box. The next bit looks fiddly, but messing about with the box skips to the end of Act 2.
From there, the standard Baldur's Gate 3 speedrunning technique of igniting Gale's chest bomb to trigger perhaps the worst ending in Baldur’s Gate 3 kicks in. You can see the run in full in the video on YouTube.
“This was a long time coming and blows my mind that this run has gotten this fast,” ImTaiyl said. “It’s been a heck of a ride and I'm not stopping anytime soon.”
It seems likely Baldur’s Gate 3 players will continue to break this record many times over the coming months, given the fervour with which the speedrunning community has taken to Larian’s sprawling role-playing game. Will the developer patch out this Shadowboxing method? It does feel like a pretty significant glitch, so perhaps Baldur’s Gate 3’s speedrunning community will need an alternative, less macabre tactic sooner rather than later.
Baldur's Gate 3 launched to an incredibly positive reception and has also proven incredibly popular, almost immediately becoming one of the most popular games on Steam and forcing a hotfix from Larian to cope with demand.
It's also gained attention for being, in the developers' own words, "big-budget horny", with players being shocked by the extent of its nudity.
In our 10/10 review, IGN said: "With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur's Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs."
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
